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Sure looks like a stout to me.

First off I totally agree with everything said, in addition, why the heck are they flying the Oscar IIa at the front in late 43, The Oscar IIb is a massive upgrade, with 40MPH speed bump and a point of armor. You should have a decent number of Oscar factories from the opening days of the war. One or more should have advanced the time of the Oscar IIb.

And the Oscar IIb I am finding works best in a fighter bomber roll, (low level strafing runs against units with limited AA flak) the only thing they really have going for them is their massive Bomb load.

In my mind the Tojo is the most important fighter for the IJAA

Sure, sure

Superior firepower of the Spitfire VII
Superior speed
Superior armor
Excellent pilots


Yada, yada, yada


Y'all missed it.

Oscar=Pure Butt Ugly (3)
Spitfire=Makes Tears Come to Your Eyes Beautiful (10)

It's the beauty gap. Like it or not, this is how the world works.

The Spitfire is the most beautiful fighter of WWII....there...I said it.

P-51 is close...but not quite the pinnacle.

More beautiful than the Buffalo?

ORIGINAL: witpqs

More beautiful than the Buffalo?

Tempting, yes, but my position stands.

Come on the P-47 Thunderbolt, more lovingly referred to as "The Jug" wins it hands down.

Specially two of them ... I mean you does not like a beautiful pair of jugs.

The only use for Oscar in early 1944 is to serve as an ablative armor for your long-range strikes. Makes a decent kamikaze plane too, with a good combination of range and bombload. As about actually shooting down Allied planes, yeah, not exactly suitable for that anymore. Effects of tech difference tend to be much more pronounced in AE than IRL, IMO and WitP air combat engine especially hates planes with a low number of guns. And even then, you should use IIb and (if already available) IIIa. I think IIa and IIb are about equal in anti-fighter combat, but the latter has greater range and armor, and IIIa is just superior. Either way, stick your good Army pilots in Ki-84s ASAP. Failing that, or in theaters with poor support, Ki-44-IIc is a good option, or Ki-100-I (if you accelerated Ki-61 line hardcore, which likely might be a waste of resources, considering that Ki-44-IIc is comparable in stats, but available far earlier).

Also, Spitfire VIII is the most deadly Allied fighter in 1943-early 1944. Good thing there aren't many of them.

@Cap Mandrake:
Beauty contest: Imho the Spit takes home a very good 2nd place and if you compare piston fighters she wins. But against the Me-262? No way